Thoughts on business and technology

March 14, 2007

Why search engines rank blogs higher than web sites

About 75% of the traffic to my blog comes from search engines where users type in random queries. They aren't looking for blogs, they are looking for information. But why do blogs consistently rank very high in any search?

Words and Links. The simple fact is that most blogs have more words and more links than the average web site. Search engines collect their results based on finding the "keywords" and rank them based on the number of links into that page. Most web sites are static meaning they are built once and updated infrequently. Web sites try to concisely communicate what the company does and provide some details about the product or service...hoping that the user will contact them via phone or email.

You need both - a blog and a web site. A blog is an engaging conversation that goes far deeper than a web site. My guess is that if a company has a blog and a web site on the exact same topic areas...the blog will generate far more traffic. Two reasons. The search engines will rank the blog higher and drive more traffic. Second, the blog will likely have more content, more discussion, and provides an easy way for a potential customer to engage with a company.

Your blog should drive traffic to your web site. Blogs should not be marketing driven fluff pieces. They should be open and honest discussions about the issues of the day. Customers want to know about the people they are buying from. They want to know more about the product. Blogs do that better than web sites. You need both.

Every product group at Microsoft has a blog. The developers and business people participate, contribute content, and respond to questions. Blogs have put a human face on Microsoft. Yes, we are a big company, but anyone can engage with a real person at Microsoft through our blogs. There are over 3,000 bloggers at Microsoft.

Channel 9 is the blog site for developers. Any developer anywhere in the world can ask a question of any product group on Channel 9. Channel 9 has lots of video interviews, podcasts, and of course blogs. Here is an interview on the Micro-ISV Show about the Emerging Business Team and how we help start-ups and a little about how Microsoft does acquisitions.

Join the conversation. Comment on a blog. Ask a question. And, start your own blog.